Call for Excellence in Drone Regulations

Since the introduction of the EASA-based ruleset for drones at the end of 2020, the UK regulator appears to have been on the back foot.

The industry waited a full 2 years before the risk assessment for PDRA01 operations was first released in the form of CAP 722H.  When it appeared, it was peppered with errors and contained a risk assessment table that was next to unreadable.

Since then, we have witnessed “errors” in official safety reports and annual accounts reporting, where simple numbers appear to be beyond the understanding of those generating these documents.
Meanwhile, the industry has been subjected to an endless stream of self and cross-contradictory guidance within the CAP 722 series and related documents.

Document control is also a weakness.  At the time of writing, even the official PDRA01 Assessment Guidance Notes, against which professional operators are judged, state version 1.0 on the header page but version 1.1 in the amendments table.
The above issues have been evidenced repeatedly.

It is now high time for the UK’s airspace regulator to start caring.  To start making the effort expected of its “regulated community”. To ensure the documentation and guidance that represents its only real output is correct in all particulars.

Unmanned Support calls unequivocally for the regulator to implement an internal CAMPAIGN FOR EXCELLENCE IN UAS REGULATIONS.

In the spirit of lean productivity, this improvement in quality should have ZERO additional cost to the end user.  In fact, because it will reduce the number of reviews and reworks after publication, it should aim to provide the regulated community with savings.

It should not rest until it has the systems in place it needs to do its job properly.

You can help strengthen the call for excellence by joining US now.